Professional Experience

We will give you the opportunity to practise the skills that are highly relevant to your chosen career, through core teaching and optional modules.

Companies often approach our Department with a problem specific to engineering. We view such problems as opportunities, and with the expertise that you gain during your degree, it will be your job to solve these challenges in small teams. Undergraduates on our MEng programmes are given the opportunity to undertake an industrial research project in their 3rd or 4th year. Not only will this give you the opportunity to apply what you have learned in a real-life situation, but it will provide you with experience working in industry that will be invaluable when seeking employment. In addition, many companies use these placements as extended interviews, so you may be able to secure full-time employment after you graduate by undertaking one of these projects.

If you choose to do an MSc in Mechanical Engineering or Smart Systems, you will undertake a 2-3 week linking project, where you will bring together everything you have learned to solve an industrial problem in teams of 5 or 6. In addition to these modules, the Department also provides paid internships through the Knowledge Exchange Programme for students who were unable to get any work experience through the modules they chose. These will take place over approximately 140 hours in term time as long as this is mutually beneficial to both company and student.

Student projects

Student projects are undertaken by fourth year students as part of their ENGR 445 module. These take place in two batches, March and July. The companies/project titles are released closer to the time so keep an eye out for more information!

Past project titles have included:

Development of a blunt dissector for use during gastro-intestinal surgeryLancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Development of a facility to ensure the achievement of torque parameters for a specific axel configurationLeyland Trucks Ltd

If you have any questions about these student opportunities, please email Mr Chris Lambert. As and when these projects are confirmed more information will be posted on Lancaster Product Development Unit's Facebook and Twitter pages.

Student opportunities

Here are a few of the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are involved in many of our programmes:

Hybrid Instruments

Hybrid Instruments Ltd is an SME that specialises in the design and development of fast digitisation systems for pulse shape analysis using proprietary algorithms.

James Robertshaw

James Robertshaw is an independent British company that manufactures, supplies and installs window blind systems.

Biosel

Biosel Ltd is a company based in Warrington, Northwest England, that specialises in the development of bio-materials from waste products for a range of applications.